107 replies to this topic

[SportsGuy]

He was with the Yanks. Got him for cash. Hall DFA'ed or him.

He had a 996 OPS in AAA thus year. Opted out of mil contract.

[Greg Pappas]

Smart move. I like it. I'd -and the O's- would rather have him, over Hall.

[Coker]

Pearce has had some success against lefties in his time with the Pirates.
Sporting a .278/.348/.829 clip in 184 PA's.

[DJ MC]

I guess he can't hurt, at least as a platoon guy. Maybe he can stay hot in the majors and provide some value for the month Markakis is out.

[Mike B]

Obviously they think he is a better fit than Hall. They need to get a little lucky here. A reasonable move, let's hope he helps.

[Ovechkin8]

J Miller starting to hit for Norfolk. May see him soon

[BSLBobPhelan]

Better than Hall IMO. Got him for nothing. Can start him in RF against lefties and Flaherty against RHP. Not gonna make up for the loss of Markakis but I'm glad they are trying something.

Hes starting in RF today against Moore. Lets see how he looks.

[BSLChrisStoner]

J Miller starting to hit for Norfolk. May see him soon

I would be surprised. You can see the Miller thread in the Minors section. Some power lately, but the plate discipline is horrible.

[Tyler Bingaman]

Steve Pearce is going 1-3 today, with a 2 run homer, 1 walk, and 1 k. And a groundout to 2nd.

[RShack]

Sorry if this has been covered somewhere else but I couldn't find it...

Pearce sure has been a pleasant surprise. I didn't even look him up when we got him, I just assumed he was miscellaneous AAAA filler who'd be here for a few weeks. But then he started playing and, well, gee, he looked like an actual ballplayer. Then vatech popped in here somewhere and said he expected good things from him as a role player cog.

So, I looked him up. Looks like he was coming along through the MiL's OK, not setting everyplace on fire but having good years for the first few, and then having some ups and downs. But it looks like he missed most of 2010 and 2011. I saw him tell somebody in the clubhouse that he thought he could do fine if he could stay healthy. What kind of health issues did he have? Whatever it was, did it cost him most of 2 seasons? Or was he sitting on the bench alot?

[Oriole85]

I've been pleasantly surprised by him. Wonder if he can keep this going, would be interesting to see what the O's do when Markakis comes back?

[RichardZ]

I've been pleasantly surprised by him. Wonder if he can keep this going, would be interesting to see what the O's do when Markakis comes back?

Should be a pretty easy call. Pearce in LF, Markakis in RF.

[Oriole85]

Should be a pretty easy call. Pearce in LF, Markakis in RF.

I meant more who goes?, since many assumed it was him. Still a lot of baseball to play between now and then that can influence the decision. Remember when Avery got off to a good start, we were talking about finding the solution in left.

[RShack]

Lots of places say that the O's bought him from the MFY's. But here's a place that says that's not really what happened: http://yankees.lhblo... ... baltimore/

According to them, Pearce had an opt-out in his MiL contract that let him leave as of 6/1 if he wasn't in the bigs. And he took it. According to http://www.masnsport... ... imore.html, Pearce said he left the MFY's first without knowing what would happen. "I took it [the opt-out]. It was just one of those things. I was playing really well and the Yankees were stocked with talent. I just wanted to see what else was out there. I was very fortunate that the Orioles called and gave me a big league job," Pearce said.

If that's what happened, then it sounds like the O's got him for nothing. If he opted out, I don't understand why the O's would have paid the MFY's anything. If it's not a trade, and not a purchase, and not a waiver claim, then what is it? Did the O's just sign him as a FA as soon as his exercised his 6/1 opt out? Or am I missing something about this?

Anyway, the reason I came across that is that I was looking to see how he was injured in '10/'11.

The Pirates put him on the DL in May'11 for a "right calf strain"... he was playing 3B for them... at the time, Pearce said it was frustrating because it had bothered him all that year up 'til then, plus had been an issue for him the year before. So, I nosed around about the year before. I didn't see anything about a "right calf strain" in '10, but he had an "ankle sprain" in May'10 that put him on the DL. He went on the DL again in July'10 for "patella tendonitis" in his left knee, and was expected to be out until Aug'10. Not sure how long these DL visits lasted.

As for this year, while I don't see that he ever played in a real game for the Twinkies, they had him this ST in a MiL slot, but then they cut him. There was some hand-wringing on a Twinkies fan site about them letting him go, which some thought was a dumb thing to do. That's when the MFY's signed him to the contract that had the 6/1 opt-out.

Those who regret the Twinkie's cutting him say he was a "once a highly valued prospect", was better than the guy who they kept instead of him, and they think the Twins were dumb for letting him go just because he had some unspecified "minor injury" this spring. The counterargument from others was that he was no loss, said the Twinkies let him go because he was disgruntled because they had him in a AAA slot, not a ML one... one guy said he was a PITA who got in a very public dugout spat with a AAA teammate in ST and was let go just 2 days later. I have no idea what the truth is about any of that.

But he did fine in Scranton, and it sounds like the MFY's didn't want to let him go... but the only way to keep him was to bring him up, and they weren't gonna do that either... so he winds up here at just the right time for everybody.

[Mike B]

I meant more who goes?, since many assumed it was him. Still a lot of baseball to play between now and then that can influence the decision. Remember when Avery got off to a good start, we were talking about finding the solution in left.

Short term probably Tolleson, long term when more guys come back probably Nick Johnson.

[SportsGuy]

He was a highly regarded prospect in Pitt.

[RichardZ]

He was a highly regarded prospect in Pitt.

Baseball America had him as their #7 prospect in the 2007 Handbook. Not sure if he ever got higher than that. He wasn't listed at all in 2009's and I don't have the 2008 book. It also depends on one's definition of "highly regarded".

[SportsGuy]

Baseball America had him as their #7 prospect in the 2007 Handbook. Not sure if he ever got higher than that. He wasn't listed at all in 2009's and I don't have the 2008 book. It also depends on one's definition of "highly regarded".

In 2008, he was ranked #89 by BA.

[BSLBobPhelan]

I definitely remember hearing about him when he was coming up. I don't think he's going to break out into anything special but it was a smart pick up. He can be a solid left fielder until Reimold returns and a good reserve after that. His defense passes the eye test but that could be misleading.

[Ovechkin8]

He was highly regarded in PItt and their fans were furious this week watching him destroy them after failing everytime he got a chance there.